The Red Bag

My mom had a fear of flying in an airplane. She loved to learn about places outside of Ohio, but there were very few places she ever actually went. She went to Florida (via car of course) as a child to visit her grandma. She took a group of her Spanish students to Mexico when I was younger. She went to California to watch the 1968 Ohio State National Championship game. She snuck off to Washington D.C. to attend the events after President Kennedy's assassination (apparently sending a postcard to your parents when they do not know you have left the state is not a wise decision). She and I took a road trip in 1998 to New Orleans to watch Ohio State play in the Sugar Bowl. Besides her fear of airplanes, she was also a creature of habit, so that meant going to Indiana to visit family or to surrounding states to watch Ohio State play was what she enjoyed doing.

When Matt and I moved away from Ohio in 1998 it meant mom had to expand her traveling horizons a bit more. For nine years she drove to visit us in Illinois. When we moved to North Carolina she realized it was easier to face her fear and fly rather than driving through the mountains. She also started to fly every winter to visit her friend and her sister in Florida. When we moved to Japan at the end of 2008, I begged her to come visit me, but between her stubbornness and fear she adamantly refused every time. I even tried to bribe her with a deal that I would take her to Ireland, her dream, if she just came to see me. It's funny what you learn after someone has died. My mom and dad were in the process of getting their passports to come and see us in Japan. It was supposed to be a surprise.

My mom had a red suitcase that she used when she would go anywhere. It wasn't a big one, but it was exactly what she needed when she would travel.

When I went back to Ohio in September to visit my dad and brother, I needed an extra suitcase because I bought too much to bring back with me to fit in the two large suitcases I brought with me. Dad gave me the red bag to use. Little does he know (until he reads this) the suitcase is now mine.

The red bag has finally visited Japan. We took the bag with us when we went on fall break to Boracay in the Phillippines.

I am taking the red bag with us on our Christmas holiday to Singapore and Cambodia. My hope is to take the bag to places Mom never experienced herself. I am planning to travel more of the United States after our assignment in Japan is finished, and the bag will come with me.  And someday,  in the smallest way, I will makes mom's dream come true and the bag and I will go to Ireland.

Fall Break, 2010 -Phuket Thailand

Our school has a week off for Fall Break every October. It is the time many expats here will choose to travel within Japan or to other parts of Asia. This year we decided to take the kids to Phuket, Thailand.  Some of you may remember, Matt took me there for our anniversary in 2008 as a ploy to make me fall in love with Asia and move. Obviously his plan worked (although Japan is NOT Phuket).

We decided to make this a very low key, relaxing vacation as Matt has been working crazy hours and the kids were more than ready for a break from school. So instead of doing a bunch of tours we mainly just explored the areas we were staying and did small activities like Go-Karts, kayaking, swimming, shopping and lots of eating.

We split the trip up and stayed in two different areas. The first was Patong Beach. This area is known for being very busy and full of nightlife, shopping and different types of restaurants.

Looking down one of the shopping alleys in Patong.

Me and my beautiful daughter at dinner.

The kids loved playing in the pool.

Patong Beach

Ronald McDonald thanks us for eating his ice cream

Can you tell Chris enjoyed a burger at the Hard Rock?

Many of the restaurants in this area have fresh seafood for you to select for dinner.

The guys had a need for speed while the girls shopped.

Gas anyone?

You cannot visit Patong without making a stop at the banana pancake cart

After a few days in Patong we wanted someplace a bit quieter and relaxing so we moved on to the new Westin in Siray Bay. It is located about 10 minutes from Phuket Town so it was easy to go into town at night on the shuttle for dinner and some shopping. The area was absolutely stunning and very relaxing.

View from the lobby

My kids

Some beach soccer

Don't we make a cute couple?

Matt's great find

Our whole family loves Thai food.

Our family

The girls were off to explore

An afternoon treat

I treasure each one of these vacations, not because it is a great way to keep my golden color, but it has hit Matt and I hard how short of a time we have left with all our kids at home. They grow up so quickly and the memories and experiences we can have with them now are priceless. I hope when they are our age they can look back at our time as a family with a smile on their face.

You can see many more pictures here. 

China Beach - Vietnam

Early the morning after our trip to Halong Bay we, along with the Klepfer family, flew to DaNang, home of China Beach. This was the area where in 1965 US troops were first deployed for the ground war during the Vietnam War and was home of the biggest military complex in Central Vietnam. Some may remember the TV show China Beach, which was actually set on the beach directly in front of the hotel we stayed at. It was very surreal knowing that such a large part of US history and bloodshed was right where we were walking.

The flight from Hanoi was less than an hour so we were at the airport and ready to go to the hotel before 8 am.  The kids were excited when they saw our welcome drinks.

The Furama, our hotel, was amazing. It has to be one of the best hotels we have stayed at thus far.  The grounds were full of lush, tropical plants and flowers. There was a lagoon pool, as well as a pool that overlooked the beach and ocean. I could easily live there. I wonder if a job search would have any hits in Matt or my field. Ha ha, just joking.

The beach itself went on for miles and miles. This area is just starting to be developed, so along the beach you could see resorts and condos. While the tourism is very mush needed for the people of Vietnam, I hate to see such a beautiful and calm area become littered with resorts and businesses.

The hotel was pretty quiet, but the kids kept busy swimming, playing on the playground and even jet skiing.

And while the kids were busy playing with each other, the adults were enjoying some time to chat, read and of course sip fruity drinks.

At night we tried a few local restaurants as well as some of the food offered at the hotel. We clean up pretty well, don't we?

We absolutely loved China Beach. We have already determined that we will come back when we go to  Southern Vietnam.  You can see more pictures from China Beach here.

One more entry from our vacation in Vietnam left. Stay tuned!

Halong Bay - Vietnam

One of the "must see's" in Vietnam is Halong Bay. This bay consists of over 3,000 limestone islands covered in vegetation. Some of these islands house small fishing villages, while others have caves to explore. and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can take a day trip boat through part of the bay or choose to stay overnight on one of the "Junks".  You have the option to stay multiple nights, seeing more of the bay, however we opted to stay one night considering we were short on time and between us and the Klepfer family we had 5 children to entertain.

Unfortunately there was alot of fog coming off the water while we were there, but the views and trip was still breathtaking. I can only imagine what it looks like during a clear time.

It took us 3.5 hours to get to Halong Bay from Hanoi via a shuttle bus. While the drive was long, it was interesting to drive through some of the "countryside" of Vietnam. Part way through we stopped at a rest area to grab snacks, drinks and for a bathroom break.

One we arrived at the port we had to board a hopper boat to our "Junk". The kids were excited to be going on a "cruise" for 2 days.

We arrived at our "Junk" (I have no idea why they call the boats this) and got checked into our cabins. The Junk was awesome and the rooms were quite spacious.

There was a total of 10 cabins on the Junk. The other "Junkmates" consisted of a couple that barely spoke to anyone, an Asian couple, two guys vacationing solo and two couples who were backpacking across Asia. They turned out to be a very fun group of people.

The afternoon was spent eating lunch, exploring the caves, kayaking, and cruising around the bay looking at all the islands and little villages.

The meals served on the Junk were awesome. The kid enjoyed sitting at their own table eating all the decorative food.

After dinner we cruised around the bay some more and then had a fun night of karaoke. Even Matt joined in the fun!

The next day we cruised around the bay taking in all the sites before returning back to the port and heading back to Hanoi.

You can see many more pictures here.  It was an awesome two days and I highly recommend anyone going to Vietnam to make sure they visit Halong Bay. You won't regret it.

Next up?  China Beach!